The First Return (3)
I was overcome with emotion at finally standing beneath the bright rays of the sun. I offered a prayer of gratitude to the Sun God for allowing me to leave the Labyrinth safely, then exchanged farewells with my companions. Having survived life-and-death trials together, we had forged deep bonds. It took a long time before we finally finished our goodbyes.
“Priest Arthur.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“A word, if you please.”
“Of course.”
Princess Reciel led me to a secluded spot.
“The first expedition yielded no results whatsoever. To be honest, I was confident, but I never expected it to end so emptily.”
“Please don’t be discouraged. This is only the beginning.”
We had no idea how many more times we would need to enter the Labyrinth. It would be troubling if she already felt defeated.
“Everything my sister said seems to have been correct. The Labyrinth isn’t a place that can be conquered with brute strength alone. For the next expedition, I intend to prepare far more thoroughly against traps. That was one of the concerns my sister mentioned as well.”
“Introducing new outsiders to a team that was already composed of trustworthy people would mean creating vulnerabilities.”
Princess Canaby’s greatest worry had been the possibility of a traitor within their ranks. If not for that internal spy, she might never have been cursed, and the second subjugation force could have captured a monster to lift it.
“Even my sister couldn’t identify the traitor. I worry whether I’ll be able to find the right people. And even if I choose correctly, there’s always the chance someone could be swayed and turned.”
“Didn’t you select individuals who have every reason not to betray you?”
“That’s right. I mostly chose people entangled with my own fate. Betraying me would be tantamount to throwing away their own lives. So even if they wanted to, it would be nearly impossible.”
“I thought you chose them because your relationship was deep enough that they wouldn’t betray you?”
Princess Reciel let out a small, scornful laugh. On that young, angelic face, the expression looked strangely out of place.
“Hardly. My sister trusted people without restraint and ended up like that. How could I possibly trust anyone completely?”
“……”
It saddened me that a princess of the empire harbored such profound distrust and denial toward other human beings. That attitude would bring misfortune not only to those she suspected, but to herself as well. Humans are social creatures who experience a wide range of emotions through interaction. If she continued to grow up this way, how lonely would her life become?
At least she had someone with whom she could share her feelings.
Is Princess Canaby alone enough?
The problem was that Canaby herself maintained an equally formidable wariness toward others. If the two of them stayed together, they would simply remain trapped in a small world, never realizing it was little more than a well.
Both of them needed to meet more people, gain more experience, and grow. Closing the door entirely out of fear of getting hurt was too extreme.
It’s probably because they lack an adult to guide them.
Surviving by cutting themselves off from the world—how tragic. I wanted to change both of them, but it seemed I would need to start with Princess Reciel.
While the rest of the party had grown close and built friendships, none of them readily approached her.
Now that I think about it, she spent most of her time inside the Labyrinth alone.
She never said it outright, but her entire demeanor had radiated do not come near me. The only people she spoke with and spent time alongside were the group of childhood friends she had mentioned once before. Perhaps realizing that childhood friends alone couldn’t take her to the deeper floors, she had recruited skilled individuals from various places. Yet hiring people for help and then discriminating against them was clearly problematic.
If the team’s atmosphere continues like this, it will eventually split into two factions.
A noble faction centered around Princess Reciel. A skilled faction centered around the leader. When even unity would barely be enough, keeping distance and engaging in subtle discrimination was the last thing we needed. Moreover, from what Reciel had said, the people in the leader’s faction had their own separate reasons for being unable to betray her.
It’s a perfect division of superiors and inferiors.
I wasn’t trying to completely deny the class system. But allowing factions to form from the very beginning was something that needed to be corrected for the future.
If we solve these issues one by one, Princess Reciel may yet walk the right path.
The first task was to change how coldly she and her childhood friends treated the rest of the team. At least they didn’t show that attitude toward me. Probably because I was a priest and therefore deserving of respect.
“Then, will you also choose people who have reasons not to betray you when selecting someone to detect traps?”
“I suppose I must. However, that will take time. It already took quite a while to assemble this current party. We’ll also need to fill the empty spots from this expedition.”
“Then… the second subjugation will be quite some time away.”
“Yes. Until then, I leave my sister in your care.”
I understood exactly what it meant that Princess Reciel—who trusted others so sparingly—had entrusted her sister’s safety entirely to me.
“Yes. I understand.”
A small spark of faith glimmered in the young girl’s eyes. I resolved to do everything in my power to ensure that faith was never betrayed again.
The first Labyrinth exploration had passed in such a whirlwind that my memories were jumbled and confused no matter how I tried to recall them.
“Priest Arthur!!”
“Are you feeling all right?”
“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?!”
“Welcome back.”
“How was the Labyrinth?”
“Did you see any monsters?”
Still, it hadn’t been entirely without meaning. Perhaps because I had entered the Labyrinth, the Sun God had granted me new knowledge and my divine power had increased substantially. The claim that growth accelerated several times over inside the Labyrinth was no exaggeration.
It’s too dangerous to force anyone inside, but anyone with ambition really should experience it at least once.
Not only that, I could now handle my divine power with far greater precision than before. The only slight disappointment was that the new knowledge leaned more toward combat-oriented buffs rather than healing techniques.
Still, being able to cast buffs with divine power has made hunting much easier.
It had taken a full month before I finally returned to the temple. The sight of my fellow priests and healers welcoming me back brought a warm smile to my face without me even realizing it.
“A snowman? How big was it exactly?”
“Probably four times bigger than Priest Lumi.”
“Eek!”
“Oh my goodness, Sun God above…”
Everyone was incredibly curious about the Labyrinth. Priests and nursing healers who didn’t have patients at the moment had gathered in clusters, hanging on my every word as I recounted my experiences.
“I’m never going to a place like the Labyrinth!”
“I want to go. It sounds so fascinating.”
“You’re really going to volunteer for a subjugation force?”
“Hmm… Priest Arthur, do you think I’d be all right if I went into the Labyrinth?”
“I received new knowledge from Him this time. If you master that as well, I think you should be fine.”
“You received knowledge again?!”
I hadn’t meant to brag, but the priests couldn’t hide their envy at my words.
“It seems the Sun God truly has His eye on you, Priest Arthur.”
Even if the first time could be called luck, receiving knowledge directly from Him twice could no longer be explained away as coincidence.
“It just slipped out, but the knowledge I received this time is buff-related. Nothing particularly special.”
They were common fundamentals that combat priests learned in their regular training. Nevertheless, the envious gazes directed at me from those around me didn’t diminish in the slightest.
“Even if it’s basic knowledge…”
“The fact that He deemed it necessary to grant it is what’s enviable.”
“He isn’t watching us right now, is He? Everyone knows that jealousy and envy are sins, right?”
“Who would dare feel such emotions toward Priest Arthur? After everything he’s done for us?”
It seemed my habit of sharing knowledge freely hadn’t been entirely in vain. They were even cautioning one another not to harbor negative feelings just in case He was watching.
“When will you enter the Labyrinth next?”
“Surely not right away?”
“Our priest needs to rest…”
While I was still receiving their warm welcome, Priest Cardon approached after hearing of my return.
“You’ve returned.”
“Priest Cardon!”
His face was etched with exhaustion, as if he had struggled greatly while filling in for me. I had heard that additional priests had been sent to help and that things had eased up, but…
“Are you all right?”
“Pardon? Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”
“You just look more tired than I do after coming back from the Labyrinth.”
“……”
Priest Cardon gave an awkward laugh, as though my words had struck a nerve, then spoke.
“It was a month filled with many thoughts.”
“We should continue this conversation inside.”
I was far too curious about what had brought Priest Cardon to this state.
“I feel utterly inadequate. I was confident I could fill your absence completely, but now that I’ve actually done it, I don’t understand how you managed, Priest Arthur.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘managed’?”
“This temple is currently operating in a completely abnormal state. We’re getting over a hundred patients at once. I’ve never heard of any temple experiencing such an absurd number of patients every single week.”
When Priest Cardon had taken over, he apparently hadn’t experienced this situation firsthand and had only heard about it, so he hadn’t fully grasped just how busy and difficult it was.
“If the Holy Empire had known, they would have established a branch temple long ago. Simply adding more people isn’t enough to handle this.”
Yet our temple was somehow managing. When I looked at him with that meaning in my eyes, he spoke as if he were losing his mind.
“The problem is that the system you created, Priest Arthur, has made this impossible situation possible.”
It was exhausting to the point of death, but patient treatment remained feasible. Since the temple could still function, the Holy Empire saw no reason to spend more money establishing a branch.
“Did I… do something wrong?”
“It’s not wrong. It’s simply because you’re too capable. I barely endured for a month, but I’m not sure whether another person in charge would be able to handle this place at all.”